"I mean, I have a backyard we could use?" That's when it hit him- his grandma. What would she think of him? What would his grandma think of her? What would- "Or, I mean, we could, like, go to a park, or something." He felt his cheeks getting a little hot. One minute.
“Either of those would be fine,” Fern replied evenly, trying not to care that he was helping. She figured it wouldn’t last long. “We just need a solid plan.”
"I-" The bell rang, cutting him off. "I think a park is good." He walked to the door, glancing out the window just past it. He sighed. "Maybe not." A lightning streak found it's way across the sky, setting everything off. "Well, what now?"
“Just give me your number and we can plan it after school,” Fern suggested, not liking the thought much but figuring it was the easiest way. She doubted he’d like that plan but she had yet to think of another one.
He turned back to her and sighed. "Okay, it's {insert series of numbers here}." Jay came up behind him, scaring him half to death with a shake of his shoulders. Zavian laughed, turning around and punching him. "Dude!" They both took a push at each other before walking out the door.
Fern sighed. At least he gave her his number.
//time skip?
(Oui oui, to where?)
Hmm maybe to the end of the school day? We can show them at home and texting each other//
(Sure, do you mind starting? I'm kind a confuzzled…)
Sure//
Fern finally got home, sighing with relief. It only lasted briefly as anxiety filled her stomach about the project. She texted Zavian asking him when he was available to film the video this weekend.
Zavian stepped off the bus and watched as it drove away. He was always the last one off, which he was kind of glad for. As it drove off, his entire posture cuanged. He wasn't slouching as much or walking without any kind of purpose
He sighed, gently opening the door. "Hey, Nan." She sat on the couch as he greeted him warmly with a smile. "Hello there." A chime from his phone interrupted him from sitting down next to her. He sighed.
Zavian: Really anytime.
He put his phone back in his pocket, sitting down next to her. He began a conversation about her day. She didnt remember bits and pieces, and she'd recognize that she didn't- that's what bothered her. She's not going to be able to live here much longer…
Fern smiled with relief. He was going to actually help her. She hoped this wasn’t some sort of dumb ruse to make her think that he was a decent person when he would really just leave her like before. It had happened.
Fern: That’s great! How does tomorrow morning work? Also where should we meet?
"What do you want for dinner?" He looked to see her staring off. "How does some soup sound?" No response. He gently squeezed her hand and stood up, heading for the kitchen. He stopped to answer.
Zavian: Fine. We can't really do the park bc the storm and all. Where else?
He put his phone back and grabbed all the ingredients. Soup seemed to be his go to food when she was like this. He always kept a little container in the fridge. He opened the fridge and took it out, preparing to warm it up.
Fern's phone buzzed in her pocket as she began working on a half-finished painting, by herself for a precious few minutes before the rest of her family gradually got home from school or work. She set down her paintbrush, and checked her phone.
Fern: Well my house is out since my dad is having his party and he's going to take all day to prepare for it, so I don't know. Do you know of anywhere we can do it besides the park?
"Here you go." He gently handed her the bowl of warm soup. She took it, suddenly aware of reality. A faint ding rang, catching her attention. "Who's that?" He took out his phone and his mind raced to do it. Where else? Not, here. No, if she saw him… "It's just my project partner. We're trying to find a place to work." You shouldn't have said that. "Oh? Why not here?" He sighed, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't want to bother you." She placed her hand on his knee. "I insist." "Really, Grandma, it's ok. I'll just find somewhere." Her tone changed slightly. "I got a call today, and I didn't remember until now. The principal said some things I didn't think were true. You are working on this project, right?" Shoot. "Yes, Grandma." He sighed, turning his phone back on.
Zavian: Idc. My house is open.
"Good." She continued with her soup as if nothing happened. He sighed, heading to his room.
Her phone dinged, and she set down her paintbrush once again. Her painting was looking close to done now, though she doubted it would be finished before her siblings got home. True to her guess, one of her sisters, Maple, walked into the house. Maple was her oldest sister, being the third child in the family. Her oldest brother Tyler was in high school like Fern was, and Maple was in middle school. Her other siblings were both in elementary school. "Hi Fern," Maple chirped, walking into Fern's room. "Who are you texting?"
"No one," Fern replied. "Not that's it any of your business." Maple snickered.
"Is it your booooyfriend?" she teased, trying to grab Fern's phone.
"No it's not!" Fern snapped, moving the phone out of Maple's reach. Unfortunately, Maple was pretty tall, and she snatched it out of Fern's hands. "Hey!" Fern shrieked.
"Your conversation is boring," Maple noted as Fern tried to snatch her phone back. She typed out of response before handing Fern her phone back and running off.
Fern: I'd love to go to your house.
"It could've been worse, at least," she sighed. "But maybe now he'll think that I actually like him at all, which I definitely don't." She huffed out of breath in annoyance, hoping her sister hadn't made her sound ultra weird.
He laid back in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He let out a long sigh, gently closing his eyes as he did. His peace was interrupted from a chime. The text struck him oddly. Uhh… It confused him. What exactly did she mean? He tried to pass it off as best as he could.
Zavian: Cool.
He sat up, trying to keep everything together.
Zavian: My address is {insert address of an okay neighborhood, little cheap}. See you in the morning.
With that, he turned his phone off and went back out to his Grandma. He just sat there next to her as they both watched A rerun of I Love Lucy.
Fern sighed with relief. At least he didn't seem to think she was a total weirdo. Her sister hadn't sent him any hearts…yet. She'd have to be on her guard.
Fern: cool sounds like a plan, see you at ten?
Then the front door opened and her youngest siblings, Joshua and Emily, ran in. Tyler wouldn't be home for another hour because of baseball practice, and her parents wouldn't be home for another half hour (her mom), and three hours (her dad). The four of them watched cartoons together while Maple and Fern worked a little on their homework.
Zavian: Yep.
"I think I'm going to head to bed." His grandma slowly stood up, placing her hand on Zavian's knee for support. "Goodnight. Call me if you need anything." She closed the door behind her and all that was left were the voices of the show. "Luuccyy!" He stood up, turning the TV off and heading to his own room. Turning the lights off, his mind seemed to want to shut everything down. He let the need for sleep overcome him as he collapsed on his bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.
After everyone in her family had arrived home, they had sat down to dinner and talked about their days. Nothing very interesting. But then again, it hardly ever was. Little did Fern know as she got in the shower that Maple and Tyler were trying to think of a plan to throw her and Zavian together, if for no reason than to see their older sister finally get a boyfriend. Her phone was free game for them while she sang indie songs in the shower and easy for them to swipe from her desk. Now all they had to do was think of what to say. It couldn’t completely ruin their relationship but had to nudge them towards each other.
Fern: thanks for agreeing to help me on this, you’re the best :)
Then they deleted it off of Fern’s phone so they wouldn’t know they had sent anything.
A chime woke him up, a light coming from a little further in his room lighting up. He groaned as he got up, not wanting to leave his form of solitude. He took the phone and looked at the message. *I don't think I'm reading this right…" She hated him, didn't she? He pushed everything away, giving up on trying to make sense of everything. He put the phone back and slept. (Shall we skip to the morning?)
Yeah you wanna start?//
(Sure my dood)
Zavian woke, the sun shining through the blinds. He slowly opened his eyes. It was ten o'clock. He had about an hour. I'll just sleep a little longer… "Zavian, are you up yet?" He sat up fully this time. If she was awake, he needed to be. "Yeah!" He got up amd headed for the shower. "I'm going to take a quick shower, that okay?" Her voice called back. "You go right ahead. I'm just watching my show." He closed the door behind him.
Fern woke up groggily to the sound of the alarm she had set. Was it time already? She groaned inwardly. She was so tired. Nevertheless, she forced herself to get up and get ready for the day, having no idea that her siblings had sent an extra (and very out of character) text. She checked the time and realized she was going to be late! (Only by like ten minutes, but late is late.) She quickly hurried off to his house and rang the doorbell nervously, camera in hand.
For a while, he just stood there letting that hot water rush over him. It felt nice. Then he remembered that she that coming over. He quickly finished up and got ready the rest of the way. "Zavian, could you be a dear and change the channel? I forgot how." She was sitting on the couch, remote in hand. "Yeah, no problem." He gently took the remote from get hands and changed it to the channel she usually watched.